Area Event Updates
Check out several events coming up in
the next couple of months by clicking on the Area Events link above!
2011 Fall Championship (September 23-October 29)
It took a few evenings of make-up games, but the club's fall championship is finally over. Top seeds John Julian and Michael Cambareri, who drew in their fourth round encounter, each scored 4.5 to top the field. Loyd Willaford and Pat Kirlin each finished 3.0 to win the section prizes for the over and under 1400 categories. Nathan Sacpopo and Tristen Udby finished second in the under 1400 category with 2.0 scores. A total of 18 participated in this year's event, which began September 23 and was completed October 29.
This event largely played out according to ratings with few upsets -- an unusual occurrence for a club championship tourney. The field was augmented by five provisionally-rated youngsters making their first club appearances, which accounts in part for the lack of major upsets. All showed good sportsmanship and a nice grasp of the game -- and a strong future in chess!
The USCF cross table link: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201110292431-10328357
2011 Winter Championship (January 20 -- February 17)
The club's Winter Championship concluded February 17 with the top three boards playing to the final minutes, and the end result was a three-way tie for first! Expert Tim Moroney clashed with Nikolay Bulakh on board one in a match that was the last game to conclude. They reached a thrilling draw with Nikolay having a queen against rook and two pawns, but only 15 second left to hold his position! They played several dozen moves with no progress being made, nor any time running off the clock, before agreeing to the draw. On board two, Pat Herbers topped Michael Cambareri, who had a mere six second left when he resigned. On board three, Kairav Joshi held Kevin Korsmo to a draw despite being down at least one pawn nearly the entire game. Kevin was unable convert the point and join the threesome at 4.0. It was a first club championship for both Bulakh and newcomer Moroney, while old hand Herbers has some prior championships under his belt. The three split $180 in prizes covering first, second, and top over 1700.
Ron Weyland (3.5) was the tops in the 1400-1700 category, while Pat Kirlin (2.5) won the under 1400 prize. Kairav took home the top upset award. The USCF cross-table link:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201102185011-10328357
2010 Fall Championship (September 23 -- October 21)
There were quite a few things decided in the final round of the Fall Championship, but the identity of the winner was not one of them. That determination was made after Cyrus Desmarais and John Julian played their postponed round 4 matchup on October 28. John won the game and claimed sole possession of first place, with Cyrus finishing alone in second. Nine players tied for third with 3 points!
The other prize winners included Pat Kirlin, who won the under 1600 prize, and four players who shared the under 1800 prize: Niles Desmarais, Dave Griffin, Kairav Joshi, and Loyd Willaford. All five scored 3.0.
The 17-player field competing in this year's Fall Championship includedan expert, four Class A players, and several Class B players, making this event is one of the strongest fall championships the club has ever seen. Loyd Willaford directed.
The USCF cross table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201010286731-10328357
2010 Winter Championship (Jan. 21-- Feb. 25)
John Julian is again the club champion. John won his final game in convincing fashion to finish with 4.5 points and claim the title again. James Stripes, who nicked John for a fourth round draw, finished clear second at 4.0 and won the over 1700 section prize. Third place at 3.5 was shared by Steve Brendemihl, Dave Griffin, and Doug Trainor. Steve and Dave split the 1500-1700 section prize, while Doug (whose provisional rating jumped 125 points) won the 1300 section prize. Ron Weyland (3.0) won the 1400 section prize. The under 1200 section prize was won by Jimmy DeRocher with a score of 2.0.
The USCF cross-table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201002252941-10328357
2009 Fall Championship (Sept. 24 -- Oct. 30)
John Julian once again claimed the title of Fall Champion, winning the tourney with a 4.5 score. Nikolay Bulakh was clear second second with a 4.0 score. Ryan Ackerman and Kevin Korsmo (3.5) finished third. The 1400-1700 section was won by Alton Blue, Chris Copeland, and Dave Griffin (3.0). Arend Smith (3.0) won the under 1400 prize, while Ron Weyland (2.5) was second.
USCF cross table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200910305121-10328357
2009 Winter Championship (Jan. 22 -- Feb. 26)
Ron Weyland defeated Ryan Ackerman in their fifth round encounter to tie Ryan for the title of club champion. Both finished at 4-1. Kevin Korsmo was third with 3.5. Ron and Ryan split the $55 cash prize for first place and the best over 1500. The best under 1500 prize went to Ted Baker with a 3-2 score.
Ted Baker's first round conquest of Kevin Korsmo stood as the biggest upset of the tourney.
In addition to the cash prizes, each of the section winners and the biggest upset winner received one year WCF memberships as part of the prize packages.
The USCF cross table link: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200902260011
2008 Fall Championship (Sept. 19-Oct. 23)
Top seed John Julian was a perfect 5-0 in easily winning the club's 2008 Fall Championship. Second seed Pat Herbers finished second a 3.5. There were six players tied for the best U/1800 and the best U/1500 went to Alton and Ben Blue. Jim Waugh claimed the biggest upset.
The USCF cross table link:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200810238191
2008 Winter Championship (Jan. 24-Feb. 28)
Dave Meliti won the Winter Championship -- and then left town! Dave's six months in town, in which he participated in every event that he could, came to an end when he had to return to the Phoenix area to help care for his ailing father. Chris Copeland finished second with a 4.0 score and claimed the U/1600 prize. Kevin Korsmo and James Stripes (3.5) shared the best under 1800 prize, while Taylor Roberts and Ron Weyland (3.0) were best under 1400. Alton Blue scored the biggest upset with his first round victory.
The USCF cross table link:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200803096921
2007 Fall Championship
John Julian continues to reign as club champion, scoring a perfect 5-0 in the 2007 Fall Championship after defeating James Stripes in a final round match to finish a perfect 5-0. Second place went to Michael Cambareri and Alex Chow, each of whom finished 4-1. Alex defeated Taylor Coles in a battle of 3-1 scorers to join Michael in second place. They shared the best over 1600 prize.
The Julian-Stripes match was a thriller played until each contestant was down under three minutes on the clocks. Julian had an early exchange advantage that disappeared in a furious attack in a very complex position as the clocks wound down. As John had earlier, James missed some opportunities in the late-going with limited time to think and act. The game had the complete attention of all the remaining spectators.
The remaining games settled the other class prizes. Chris Copeland upended David Griffin and finished with 3.0 to tie Ryan Ackerman for the best over 1400 prize. The best over 1200 prize went to Taylor Coles and Taylor Roberts, both of whom also finished at 3.0. Jim Burney won the $50 under 1200 prize with a 2.5 score despite only playing 3 games! The biggest upset prize went to Ted Baker who won $25 for pulling off an upset victory over a player 437 points above him back in the first round.
The night of the 18th saw a lot of exciting chess. Michael Cambareri sacrificed a Queen against Ryan Ackerman and the two fought through a thrilling middlegame before Michael secured the win in the late-going. Another thrilling finish came in the game between Ben Blue and Jim Waugh. The old veteran was up material and time with a mate in three in the offing. Young Ben, down to less than a minute on the mechanical clock, managed to sac more material to set up a draw by repetition to save the half point.
The Club Championship began its five week run September 20. Always an event that features lots of upsets, it was bucking tradition with only one upset in each of the first two rounds. Then the lower-rated players struck with a vengeance in round three. Of the nine games completed on October 4 the lower rated player won or drew in seven of them. There were three draws and four upset victories to scramble the standings at the midpoint of the event. The fourth round saw two more upsets, but for the most part the higher rated players held their own.
The USCF cross table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200710255451
2007 Winter Championship
John Julian is once again the club's champion, winning the Winter Championship by defeating Alex Chow in their final round board one match. John finished the tourney with a 4.5 score. He won $70 and a year's membership in the Washington Chess Federation (WCF). Second place went to Zach Countryman and James Stripes, both of whom scored 4.0. They shared the best over 1500 section prize of $45. James won a year's membership in the WCF by virtue of his head-to-head victory over Alex.
The best under 1500 was decided when Ryan Ackerman defeated Ron Weyland to finish 3.0 and win the section by a full point. He won $45 and a year's membership in the Washington Chess Federation. Second place was a five-way tie with a 2.0 score winning $4.
Unlike usual, the event started with a quiet first round. Round 2 saw the first upsets of the 20 player tourney. Pat Kirlin defeated Ted Baker and Kevin Korsmo managed a draw with John Julian. Round 3 saw some more upsets, including old warhorse Jim Waugh upending Dave Griffin. Waugh, 77, seems to pull off at least one upset every tournament he enters -- and he plays every event the club sponsors! Round 4 saw the biggest upset when young David Blue bagged a player 619 points above him! David's victory won him the prize for the biggest upset -- a year's membership in the Washington Chess Federation
The cross table for the event: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200702159341
2006 Fall Championship
Phil Weyland is the new club champion, capturing the annual fall tournament with a 4.5 score. Second place went to Alex Chow with a score of 4.0. Third place was shared by Ben Blue, John Downes, Clint Fait, and James Stripes with 3.5 scores. They also accounted for the best u/1800, u/1600, and u/1400 prizes. Annette Weyland won the best u/1200 section and also had the two biggest upsets!
The cross table from this event: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200610186631
2006 Winter Championship
John Julian added to his streak of recent club championships by besting the field in this year's winter championship tourney with a 4.5 score. He gave up only a last round draw with second seed Pat Herbers, who finished second at 4.0. Tying for third with 3.5 scores were Alex Chow and Dave Griffin, who shared the under 1700 prize, and John Downes. Vern Johnson won the under 1400 section and also scored the biggest upset victory of the tourney. In addition to cash prizes, all of the winners received subscriptions to Northwest Chess Magazine.
The USCF cross table link: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200602236761
2005 Fall Championship
John Julian claimed the club's Fall Championship with a 4.5 score in the five round tourney. The event secured John a place in next year's City Championship contenders match and will move his rating into the Expert category. He also won the $75 first place prize and a one year club membership.
Michael Cambareri and Kirk Steinocher scored 4.0 to finish second and share the $50 Over 1700 prize.
Grade school teammates Alex Chow and Zach Countryman each scored 3.0 to tie for first place in the 1400-1700 category. They shared the $50 category prize.
Veteran Vern Johnson also scored 3.0 on his way to claiming the $50 first prize in the Under 1400 category. He beat both of the second place finishers in that class, Ted Baker and Jim Waugh, who each scored 2.0. Ted and Jim split the $24 second prize. Ted also won $24 for the biggest upset with his first round victory over Countryman.
There were18 contestants in this year's event, which was held between September 15 and October 22, 2005.
The USCF cross table link: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200510225581
.
2005 Winter Championship
John Julian is the new club champion, winning the Winter Championship with a 4.5 score. A total of 17 players competed in this year's tourney. John received a year's membership to the Washington Chess Federation (WCF) and $30 for his victory. He also will be seeded into the City Championship tourney in August.
Kirk Steinocher scored 4.0 to claim the over 1700 category prize -- a WCF membership and $20. The 1300-1700 category was won by Adam Attwood and Ron Weyland with 3.0 scores. The under 1300 category was won by Ted Baker and Zach Countryman with 2.5 scores. All four of the category winners won WCF memberships. Vern Johnson also won a membership by claiming the biggest upset.
The USCF cross table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200502242621
2004 Fall Championship:
Top-seed Pat Herbers and tenth-seed Chris Copeland are the current club champions. The two tied for the Fall Championship with 4-1 scores. They each received $62.50 for their efforts. Herbers was touched for draws by the second and third seeds, John Julian and Kirk Steinocher, while Copeland’s only blemish was a loss to Steinocher in the second round. Julian, Steinocher, and Ron Weyland finished in a third place tie with 3.5 scores.
Chris reports that this is the first event in which he has ever produced a positive score! The veteran has seen his rating rise steadily in the past year. Herbers, a youth star in Spokane during the 1960s, has been one of the top players at the club since his return to the Spokane chess scene four years ago. Herbers was a co-champion in the club’s 2000 Fall Championship.
Julian and Steinocher tied for the best score in the over 1700 category. Steve Brendemihl and Dave Griffin tied for the best in the 1400-1700 category with 3.0 scores. Ron Weyland won the under 1400 category. Patrick Kirlin finished second with a 3.0 score. Zach Countryman (1166) posted the largest upset of the tournament with his first round conquest of Phil Weyland (1712). He won $25 for that achievement.
Twenty players competed in the five round event (and two others helped out as club players in the first and last rounds), which was conducted in the six weeks between September 16 and October 21, 2004. This event was one of the few recent tourneys where the old guard veterans turned back talented youth. The younger crowd frequently dominates the prizes in other club events, but failed to garner most of the prizes in this one.
The USCF cross table: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200410148230